In article ,
Penelope Periwinkle wrote:
On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:47:55 -0400, "OhioGuy"
wrote:
I have 6 pepper plants growing outside my kitchen window, on the East side
of the house where they are sheltered from the hottest afternoon sun.
How many hours of sunlight are they getting? Since the house is
blocking the afternoon sun, I'm guessing that it's a heavy shade.
If that's true, they would need a bare minimum of 6 hours of
direct sun to produce worth a hoot. The fact that they're growing
tall makes me think not enough sunlight is the problem, as well.
If the plants look like buggy whips, I would agree, but if they are
filled out, four feet doesn't sound unreasonable. I'm on the north side
of a hill in a forested area and my jalapenos grow to three feet
with good production.
While temps above 100 F will cause plants to expend their energy
on pumping water for evaporative cooling, low temps would mean
not enough energy to set fruit.
To sum up: If your plants are tall and skinny, you don't have enough
sun. If you plants are bushed out, I'd cut back watering until the
ground was dry in the top 1/2 inch and feed with an organic 0-10-10.
I don't think you're over watering, unless the soil drains
poorly, but you might want to consider watering deeply once or
twice a week rather than a quart a day. I understand getting the
kids involved, though; and I'd love to see a picture of the
watering pig!
You don't mention fertilizers, and you do seem to be getting
blooms, so you might consider tapping individual flowers with
your finger in the mornings to get them to self-fertilize.
Or:
http://www.gardensalive.com/product....cd2=1218894207
http://www.gardeners.com/Vegetable%2...4,default,pd.h
tml
or even:
http://tinyurl.com/65kto2
You don't say what zone you're in or what geographic location,
but if the temperatures you're describing are typical, I don't
think afternoon sun would be too harsh for peppers. I'm zone 8,
and my plants get full afternoon sun year after year, and do
beautifully. Even last year when we had two weeks in a row of
100F heat, the plants themselves were fine. Lost a lot of
blossoms to the high nighttime temperatures, but the plants
thrived.
Penelope
--
Billy
Bush and Pelosi Behind Bars
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